DALLAS -- A former Texas A&M football player accused of hacking a Dallas jogger to death with a machete in 2015 has been convicted of murder.
A Dallas County jury swiftly returned a guilty verdict Tuesday in Thomas Johnson's trial in the killing of David Stevens after the former wide receiver's legal defense declined to call a single witness.
Johnson was accused of waiting on a trail in East Dallas four years ago and attacking the 53-year-old mechanical engineer as he ran by. Prosecutors have said the 25-year-old Johnson confessed to the seemingly random killing and that DNA evidence also pointed to his guilt.
The verdict, which came a day after the trial began, follows years of legal dispute over whether Johnson was mentally competent to be tried.
Johnson, a former Dallas high school football standout, played for the Aggies in 2012 before leaving the school after just one season.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report